How Tall Was Napoleon Bonaparte?

Historians have often depicted Napoleon Bonaparte as unusually short, although evidence shows that he probably was at least 5 feet, 6 inches (1.68 m) tall, and possibly 5 feet, 7 inches (1.7 m). This was the average height for men at the time that Bonaparte lived. Descriptions of him being much smaller, such as 5 feet 2 (1.58 m) are believed to have been the result of differences between British inches and French inches at the time.

More about Napoleon:

• Napoleon was born into a family of minor Italian nobility. His father was an attorney.


• Many pictures show Napoleon to be overweight, although these were painted in his later years. According to pictures and first-person accounts, Napoleon was of normal weight during his youth.


• In popular culture, a short man who demonstrates unnecessarily aggressive behavior is sometimes said to have a Napoleon complex.